Officer Down: Psych and Section Chief
by LacytheRomanWerewolf
Summary: Exactly as the title indicates. Emily's got a meeting with the shrink and then Strauss. Our dear Section Chief is at it again. HP


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Lacy here with your next Officer Down story. So I'm giving you one more between story before pushing on to the next episode I plan on doing which is...well I haven't decided yet. I think I'll probably just end up doing every episode like I did for Aaron and Emily cause I do have a lot of other ideas for episodes outside what I did for that series. But that's not here nor there. This story, Emily has to go through a psych evaluation and a meeting with Strauss before being cleared for field duty. Well we all know how well meetings with the dear Section Chief go, so be prepared to get annoyed, but not for long. The story will end in fluff. Have fun.

Disclaimer: If I owned it, Dave would have already had a 'nice chat' with Strauss by now.

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~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

Emily sat in front of the department shrink rattling off the answers she knew needed to be said in order for her to return to full duty. Really, the FBI should come up with different questions for the BAU since they were the ones who wrote them in the first place. And really, who could be better at giving the correct answers then people who read human behavior for a living?

"And how are things at home Agent Prentiss?" the shrink asked.

Emily cocked a brow. That was not an expected question. "Things are fine. Not really sure what that has to do with my return to duty though."

"Anyone around to help you with your nightmares?" the shrink asked.

Ok, this man was going totally of script. "I have my team."

The man wrote something down. "No one outside the team? Maybe a boyfriend or your parents?"

Emily straightened her back. "I haven't looked to my parents for help with nightmares since I was five. As for a boyfriend, my job doesn't exactly allow for much of a personal life. Not that I really care. My team is my family. I don't need anyone but them."

Which was true, given that her boyfriend was part of the team. But the shrink really didn't need to know that. Emily narrowed her eyes. Why was this guy asking these questions.

"Can I ask something?" Emily asked.

The shrink nodded. "Of course."

"Since when do the psych eval questions get changed without the knowledge of the BAU?" Emily asked. "Cause we're the ones who created them." Something clicked. "This is Chief Strauss' doing, isn't it?"

The shrink cleared his throat. "I believe we're finished here Agent. You may go. I'll let your unit chief know whether or not you're allowed back in the field by the end of the day."

Emily stood and made her way out of the office. A stop to Hotch's office was needed. Strauss was at it again.

~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

Hotch rubbed his brow as he tried to tie up the last ends to the Colorado case. Really he never wanted to think about it again but he had to wait for Emily's psych eval and then he could close the case. He shut the folder and leaned back.

"You look like the world is resting on your shoulders."

Hotch looked towards his door and saw Dave standing there. Hotch waved at the folder.

"Cyrus case." he said.

Dave nodded and walked in. "Ah, gotcha. How is Em doing?"

Hotch knew Dave was fishing for something to reveal what was happening between him and Emily but they had both agreed to keep it from the team and Dave was not going to get anything out of him.

"As far as I know, she's recovering just fine." Hotch said. "She should be back from her psych eval soon."

Dave tried not to roll his eyes. He knew something had changed with his best friend and Emily, but neither would budge about it.

"Should she really be returning so soon?" Dave asked. "There had to be some damage to her ribs."

"They were bruised pretty good." Hotch said. "But you know as well as I do that's not going to keep Prentiss out of the field."

"You're the boss Hotch." Dave pointed out. "She has to do what you say."

Hotch snorted. "Right, you go ahead and tell her she can't go back into the field yet. Let me know how it goes."

Dave laughed. He knew Hotch was right, when Emily wanted to do something, not even an order from her unit chief would stop her. Their talk was interrupted by a knock on Hotch's door. The two men turned to see the woman they were just discussing.

"How'd the eval go?" Hotch said in way of greeting.

"Strauss is up to something." Emily said walking in. "The shrink went totally off script and when I confronted him about it, he dismissed me."

Dave gave Hotch a look that Hotch returned.

"No Dave, you cannot have at Strauss." Hotch said.

Emily almost snorted as Dave seemed to pout at being told no.

"What was he asking?" Hotch asked Emily.

Emily repeated the questions that shouldn't have been asked. Hotch frowned.

"What on earth is she hoping to get from those?" he said.

Emily shrugged. "I have no idea but I have a meeting with her in half an hour. Can I hide in here?"

Dave chuckled and Hotch even cracked a smile.

"You can't hide from Strauss, Prentiss." Dave said. "She knows and sees all."

Hotch and Emily shared a thought. 'Not everything.'

"As much as I'd like to let you hide from her," Hotch said. "we all have to deal with her at some point."

Emily crossed her arms. "Fine."

~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

Strauss looked over Emily's evaluation with her glasses perched on the tip of her nose then raised her gaze to where Emily was sitting. Things had been strained between the two women since Strauss had tried to use Emily as a mole. In fact the Arctic was probably warmer then the temperature of the room at that moment.

"According to the department psychologist," Strauss said. "you may return to active field duty starting next week."

Emily nodded. "Very good."

Strauss noticed Emily's tone was more clipped then usual. "Is there something on your mind Agent Prentiss?"

Emily sat up straighter. "Yes ma'am there is. Is there any reason for the new evaluation questions? Because, after talking with Agent Hotchner, I know they were submitted by the BAU and since we're the ones who create them, I was rather curious. Agent Hotchner is too."

Strauss tried not to show any outward reaction, knowing Emily would read it.

"They were just a few things I thought needed to be pressed upon." Strauss said.

"Things like whether or not we have anyone at home." Emily said, her tone more the sarcastic. "How does that have anything to do with our being fit to return to the field? And for that matter, why is that any of the Bureau's concern? I thought personal lives were just that, personal."

"I do not need to explain myself to you." Strauss said.

Emily stood. "Maybe not, but whatever you're planning, we're more then ready for _ma'am_. You can't mess with this team. I'd assume you would have learned that by now."

Before Strauss could respond, Emily turned on her heal and left the room.

~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

Hotch had noticed the satisfied look on Emily's face when she had come back from her meeting with Strauss and wanted to ask her what had happened but decided to wait until they had returned to his place for the evening.

"So, any reason for the never ending grin?" Hotch asked after dinner. "I thought I was the only one who could put that there."

Emily laughed and patted Hotch's thigh. "Don't worry Aaron, I just put Strauss in her place and warned her we're more then ready for whatever she's going to throw at us."

Hotch nodded. "That we are."

~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

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The ending is bugging me but I changed it a good four times and this seemed the best so I'm leaving it before I go..more nuts. Let me know what you think, flame policy stands and thanks for reading.

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